[Fic] Heroes - Argus 8/13
Title: Argus 8/13 - Where's your partner, Mr. Bennett?
Author: themaskedmckay
Rating: Gen
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: None
Words: 1,075
Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me.
Warning: Character death & implied character death. But death isn't always as final as it might seem.
Spoilers: Up to the end of season three. The story takes place between seasons three and four.
Summary: Sylar the cockroach becomes Sylar the planarian when his cell regeneration ability evolves.
Author's Notes: A HUGE thank you to luckykitty for the beta!
Argus Illustration
[ All Parts to date]
Where's your partner, Mr. Bennett?
"Who was that?" I ask as Noah slips his cell phone into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He glances at me sideways, briefly, before his gaze slides away. I don't need an ability to know the next words out of his mouth will likely form a lie.
"Trouble at the office but nothing you need to worry about."
I wonder which part is the lie that shakes the air around us. "Then, I won't." Lie for a lie...
It's evening and we've tracked one of my duplicates down a quiet, residential street. Noah is armed with a Company-issue taser gun and I with my abilities. It almost feels like we're partners again. Of course, he did try to betray and kill me when we were partners.
"So, if you were Sylar, where would you be?" Noah asks.
The bastard. As if I wasn't already having an identity crisis. I ignore him and scan the street. I'm assuming I would already know I'm being followed and I'd want to find a place to set a trap. I'd be curious who is hunting me. I would want to understand. "Look for an empty house."
"You wouldn't take a hostage? Break into an occupied house?" Noah is pushing me, trying to learn more about me and my motivations than I'd ever feel comfortable with him knowing. I ignore his questions.
"I'm looking to catch my stalker - that would be you by the way," I point out. The corner of his mouth twitches. "I want to find out why he's following me."
"Okay," Noah says. "We have two houses with the lights off and driveways clear. Let's check the garages f-" I curtly interrupt him with a gesture. The front door of one of the houses he indicated is ajar.
Noah raises an eyebrow at me and I give him a little shrug. Sure, it's obvious but human nature is such that even an obvious opening to a trap will warrant investigation. He makes a gesture with his hand that I'm sure means something to someone with formal Company training; probably something like, 'Circle around to the back and wait for my signal.' I ignore him and stride, in plain sight, across the street to the front door. He curses me with a hissing breath and hangs back. He might want to act with caution but I just want to act.
I open the front door and step into the darkness that pools in the foyer. Noah doesn't follow me in, he's probably looking for another way in, but I don't care. Murder has filled my heart and is directing my movements.
I listen carefully, very carefully, and hear only the sounds of an empty house; surprisingly there is more noise than you might think. Pipes ping, wood groans, the weight of years pulls floors out of shape... And from upstairs a loud, obvious, creak of a door swinging open. My heart starts to hammer in my chest. I'm not hunting just anyone. I'm hunting someone who thinks like me, has my abilities, and most importantly, knows I'm coming.
Using telekinesis I float silently up the stairs. In the upstairs hallway there are four doors but one on the left is slowly swinging open. Am I really this melodramatic? I can almost hear the theatrical, maniacal laughter. It's disconcerting to see my actions from the perspective of an outsider.
The door to my right suddenly flies open. As if I hadn't guessed the door on the left was a decoy. I'm quick but he's quicker. The pain of muscle and skin separating is enough that I drop to the carpet. I quickly stretch out my hand and he slams into the ceiling then drops to the floor. I'd like to get close enough to touch him, turn him to gold, maybe steal what abilities he has before Noah can stop me but he's fighting back. Too bad he's up against the original, and I refuse to accept defeat from an inferior copy.
The carpet between us suddenly bursts into flames and the fire is more than what I had set. Mirror-images, we both tried using pyrokinesis at the same time. I know where I acquired the ability, but where did he? I'm almost certain I hadn't created any duplicates after I stole this ability. It's unnerving to think I might have without even realizing.
What other abilities might he have? Before I can rally I feel his hand on my blistered ankle. We're both being burned by the fire but we're also both regenerating quickly. "Imposter," my duplicate hisses at me. He is obviously confused. I reach down and grip the wrist of the hand that is clinging to my ankle.
"You're the imposter," I growl in reply as I start transmuting his flesh to gold.
"Then we both die," he says and I am aware that I can no longer feel my leg. He is turning me to gold, too! I have to speed his death up or he'll take me down with him! I slash with my hand, desperate now, and his head rolls down the hall into the fire. I quickly finish transmuting his body to gold and try dragging myself upright. The fire is already melting his gold body and my leg with it. I don't have a choice; I have to cut my leg off where the flesh meets gold.
"What are you doing?" Noah is at the stairs, covering his mouth with his jacket. He looks down at my melting leg and the headless body of my duplicate. "Where's his head?" he asks.
Oh, like Noah's never lost his head in the heat of the moment. So nice of him to be concerned for my well-being. Of course, the fire is rather distracting.
I ignore him and concentrate on cutting my leg off. It hurts but I find Claire's ability has granted me some detachment from pain. A large part of pain is a fear response and I have nothing to fear. I use my telekinesis to help me to my fee- To my foot. "Let's get out of here."
"Sure," Noah says. I feel a sharp pain in my chest followed by a burst of electricity that makes my body shake and go into involuntary spasms. The bastard shot me. I'll bet he leaves me in the fire to burn.
This is exactly like when we were partners.
-------
[ All Parts to date]
On to part 9
Author: themaskedmckay
Rating: Gen
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: None
Words: 1,075
Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me.
Warning: Character death & implied character death. But death isn't always as final as it might seem.
Spoilers: Up to the end of season three. The story takes place between seasons three and four.
Summary: Sylar the cockroach becomes Sylar the planarian when his cell regeneration ability evolves.
Author's Notes: A HUGE thank you to luckykitty for the beta!
Argus Illustration
[ All Parts to date]
Where's your partner, Mr. Bennett?
"Who was that?" I ask as Noah slips his cell phone into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He glances at me sideways, briefly, before his gaze slides away. I don't need an ability to know the next words out of his mouth will likely form a lie.
"Trouble at the office but nothing you need to worry about."
I wonder which part is the lie that shakes the air around us. "Then, I won't." Lie for a lie...
It's evening and we've tracked one of my duplicates down a quiet, residential street. Noah is armed with a Company-issue taser gun and I with my abilities. It almost feels like we're partners again. Of course, he did try to betray and kill me when we were partners.
"So, if you were Sylar, where would you be?" Noah asks.
The bastard. As if I wasn't already having an identity crisis. I ignore him and scan the street. I'm assuming I would already know I'm being followed and I'd want to find a place to set a trap. I'd be curious who is hunting me. I would want to understand. "Look for an empty house."
"You wouldn't take a hostage? Break into an occupied house?" Noah is pushing me, trying to learn more about me and my motivations than I'd ever feel comfortable with him knowing. I ignore his questions.
"I'm looking to catch my stalker - that would be you by the way," I point out. The corner of his mouth twitches. "I want to find out why he's following me."
"Okay," Noah says. "We have two houses with the lights off and driveways clear. Let's check the garages f-" I curtly interrupt him with a gesture. The front door of one of the houses he indicated is ajar.
Noah raises an eyebrow at me and I give him a little shrug. Sure, it's obvious but human nature is such that even an obvious opening to a trap will warrant investigation. He makes a gesture with his hand that I'm sure means something to someone with formal Company training; probably something like, 'Circle around to the back and wait for my signal.' I ignore him and stride, in plain sight, across the street to the front door. He curses me with a hissing breath and hangs back. He might want to act with caution but I just want to act.
I open the front door and step into the darkness that pools in the foyer. Noah doesn't follow me in, he's probably looking for another way in, but I don't care. Murder has filled my heart and is directing my movements.
I listen carefully, very carefully, and hear only the sounds of an empty house; surprisingly there is more noise than you might think. Pipes ping, wood groans, the weight of years pulls floors out of shape... And from upstairs a loud, obvious, creak of a door swinging open. My heart starts to hammer in my chest. I'm not hunting just anyone. I'm hunting someone who thinks like me, has my abilities, and most importantly, knows I'm coming.
Using telekinesis I float silently up the stairs. In the upstairs hallway there are four doors but one on the left is slowly swinging open. Am I really this melodramatic? I can almost hear the theatrical, maniacal laughter. It's disconcerting to see my actions from the perspective of an outsider.
The door to my right suddenly flies open. As if I hadn't guessed the door on the left was a decoy. I'm quick but he's quicker. The pain of muscle and skin separating is enough that I drop to the carpet. I quickly stretch out my hand and he slams into the ceiling then drops to the floor. I'd like to get close enough to touch him, turn him to gold, maybe steal what abilities he has before Noah can stop me but he's fighting back. Too bad he's up against the original, and I refuse to accept defeat from an inferior copy.
The carpet between us suddenly bursts into flames and the fire is more than what I had set. Mirror-images, we both tried using pyrokinesis at the same time. I know where I acquired the ability, but where did he? I'm almost certain I hadn't created any duplicates after I stole this ability. It's unnerving to think I might have without even realizing.
What other abilities might he have? Before I can rally I feel his hand on my blistered ankle. We're both being burned by the fire but we're also both regenerating quickly. "Imposter," my duplicate hisses at me. He is obviously confused. I reach down and grip the wrist of the hand that is clinging to my ankle.
"You're the imposter," I growl in reply as I start transmuting his flesh to gold.
"Then we both die," he says and I am aware that I can no longer feel my leg. He is turning me to gold, too! I have to speed his death up or he'll take me down with him! I slash with my hand, desperate now, and his head rolls down the hall into the fire. I quickly finish transmuting his body to gold and try dragging myself upright. The fire is already melting his gold body and my leg with it. I don't have a choice; I have to cut my leg off where the flesh meets gold.
"What are you doing?" Noah is at the stairs, covering his mouth with his jacket. He looks down at my melting leg and the headless body of my duplicate. "Where's his head?" he asks.
Oh, like Noah's never lost his head in the heat of the moment. So nice of him to be concerned for my well-being. Of course, the fire is rather distracting.
I ignore him and concentrate on cutting my leg off. It hurts but I find Claire's ability has granted me some detachment from pain. A large part of pain is a fear response and I have nothing to fear. I use my telekinesis to help me to my fee- To my foot. "Let's get out of here."
"Sure," Noah says. I feel a sharp pain in my chest followed by a burst of electricity that makes my body shake and go into involuntary spasms. The bastard shot me. I'll bet he leaves me in the fire to burn.
This is exactly like when we were partners.
-------
[ All Parts to date]
On to part 9